Following the World Congress on Safety and Health I begin to wonder just how more absurd the safety industry can become. It is clear from the Congress that safety is now the filter through which one views life rather than, life being the filter through which one views safety. When one gets such a … [Read more...] about The Safety Worldview and the Worldview of Safety, Testing Due Diligence
satisficing
Understanding Psychological Terminology
Understanding Psychological Terminology and Applying it to Safety and Risk. More Detail Here: Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk And SafetyAll professions (intentionally and unintentionally) create language, acronyms and discourse that create territory and challenges for understanding. This … [Read more...] about Understanding Psychological Terminology
There is No Objectivity, Deal With it!
One of the fascinating delusions of the safety industry is the myth of objectivity. There is none so, get used to it and work with it. This is why it’s important to educate people in critical thinking. Sorry to tell you, but every risk assessment design, form and checklist carries the bias of the … [Read more...] about There is No Objectivity, Deal With it!
Risk Homeostasis Theory–Why Safety Initiatives Go Wrong
My favourite quote is in relation to racing drivers on normal roads and why they have more crashes and get more fines: “At their level of skill, driving like an average driver may be intolerably boring. Imagine being a master of Beethoven and all you are allowed to play is “Twinkle, twinkle, little … [Read more...] about Risk Homeostasis Theory–Why Safety Initiatives Go Wrong
You Don’t Fess Up Without Trust
You Don’t Fess Up Without Trust We saw a classic example of how Safety doesn’t work this week in the Australian election campaign (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10753031/Australia-Election-2022-Extraordinary-moment-worker-covers-sign-Scott-Morrison.html ). The Prime Minister of … [Read more...] about You Don’t Fess Up Without Trust
Sense-Making and Decision-Making in Risk
Sense-Making and Decision-Making in Risk How we understand decision making and sense-making in time constructs how we explain risk and human enactment. Decision-making is about an enactment in the present looking forward (in faith). Sense-making is about how we understand that enactment looking … [Read more...] about Sense-Making and Decision-Making in Risk
Holistic Well Being in Risk Differently
Holistic Well Being in Risk Differently The separation of Body/Mind is a perennial problem of Philosophy. Known as ‘the Body Mind Problem’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind%E2%80%93body_problem; https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/discovery-mind-body-problem/ ). The ‘problem’ centres on a debate … [Read more...] about Holistic Well Being in Risk Differently
The Tyranny of Time in Risk
The Tyranny of Time in Risk One of the challenges of tackling risk is ‘satisficing’. Human persons cannot know everything and so each day based on limited knowledge, venture forward not knowing the outcome. Each new step is a step of unknowing in risk but also a step in learning. This is how humans … [Read more...] about The Tyranny of Time in Risk
Paradise by the dashboard light
One death is a tragedy and a million deaths is a statistic Joseph Stalin Most lectures at occupational health and safety conferences or zoom webinars invariably include death by Pierrepoint presentations from vainglorious behavioural scientists or Pecksniffian safety crusaders, which are often … [Read more...] about Paradise by the dashboard light
The Moment of Decision in Safety
Few people hold a working manual beside them as they learn a new process. They might consult that manual but the moment their eyes leave the paper/screen and they look at the action needed a host of critical factors come into play in enacting a decision. Many of these critical factors are embodied … [Read more...] about The Moment of Decision in Safety
